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GRAPHIC NOVELS & COMICSâ—†Off the Comic Rack

The Marvel Decline

February 28, 20122 min read
Over at The Savage Critics, retailer Brian Hibbs of Comix Experience in San Francisco has discussed the recent double-shipping policy with several Marvel books. From a purchaser standpoint, I have had to make decisions of what to keep reading. In the past month or two, I have started to whittle down my comic book purchases. I have cut several DC books that no longer were interesting me after the new 52 relaunch, but I have had to take a second look at my Marvel purchases as well. I have loved Ed Brubaker's Captain America run since the beginning, but at this point, each month, there are basically six Captain America books. And I don't have the time or interest in reading all three series twice a month. The first Marvel book I bought was Fantastic Four because I loved the characters in principle. But again, the book has been split into two series and there seems to be anywhere between 3 and 4 issues per month. The same is true of X-Factor, which I have enjoyed since the Madrox miniseries by Peter David. I already dropped Superman for the first time in the fifteen years that I have been reading comics and now Marvel is making me decide which books I can continue reading. And some of the longest running books may not be making their way home. The only saving grace is that I am saving money for other books to buy at my local retailer, Comix Revolution. Right now, I'm slowly saving some money to buy a Moebius book that someone ordered and never picked up. Maybe I'm not really saving much money...
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